''Bikkure ha-Ittim'' () was a

Hebrew-language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved th ...

annual Annual may refer to: * Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook ** Literary annual * Annual plant * Annual report * Annual giving * Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco * Annuals (b ...

published in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

from 1820 to 1831. Founded by

Salomon Jacob Cohen Salomon Jacob Cohen (; 23 December 1771 - 20 February 1845) was a German Jewish Hebrew scholar, teacher, writer and translator of the Bible. He was an important representative of the Haskalah in Berlin, Hamburg and Vienna. Life Cohen was born in M ...

, it was adopted by the Galician

Maskilim The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...

as their means to promote culture and education among

Galician Jews Galician Jews or Galitzianers () are members of the subgroup of Ashkenazi Jews originating in the levant having developed in the diaspora of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, from contemporary western Ukraine (Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Ter ...

. The publication was a forerunner of modern Hebrew journalism and played a significant role in the

revival of the Hebrew language The revival of the Hebrew language took place in Europe and Palestine toward the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century, through which the language's usage changed from the sacred language of Judaism to a spoken and written language ...

History

''Bikkure ha-Ittim'' originally appeared as a supplement to the Hebrew calendar ''Ittim Mezumanim''. In 1822, it stopped being a supplement and became an independent magazine. The magazine mostly featured contributions from writers in Galicia,

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

, and the Italian-Austrian provinces. It had a significant impact on European Jews in the first half of the 19th century. According to

Delitzsch Delitzsch (; Slavic: ''delč'' or ''delcz'' for hill) is a town in Saxony in Germany, 20 km north of Leipzig and 30 km east of Halle (Saale). With 24,850 inhabitants at the end of 2015, it is the largest town in the district of Nordsach ...

, ''Bikkure ha-Ittim'' also became the publication of the New-German school of poetry in Austria, with the influence of

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...

as evident in the magazine as Lessing's influence was in '' Ha-Me'assef''. The early issues of the magazine contained a mix of Hebrew and German articles (written in Hebrew characters) and reprints from the defunct ''Ha-Me'assef''. The magazine gradually improved in both style and content and eventually became the chief publication for the greatest Hebrew writers of the era, including

Samuel David Luzzatto Samuel David Luzzatto ( he, שמואל דוד לוצאטו, ; 22 August 1800 – 30 September 1865), also known by the Hebrew acronym Shadal (), was an Italian Jewish scholar, poet, and a member of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement. Early ...

, Solomon Judah Löb Rapoport, and

Isaac Samuel Reggio Isaac Samuel Reggio (YaShaR) (Hebrew: , ) (15 August 1784 – 29 August 1855) was an Austro-Italian scholar and rabbi. He was born and died in Gorizia. Reggio studied Hebrew and rabbinics under his father, Abraham Vita, later rabbi of Gorizia, acq ...

, who contributed to it for many years. ''Bikkure ha-Ittim'' also nurtured the talents of many young Hebrew writers, such as

Isaac Erter Isaac Erter (, ; 1792 – April 1851) was a Polish-Jewish satirist and poet of the Galician Haskalah. His Hebrew prose has been compared to that of writers Heinrich Heine and Ludwig Börne. Biography Isaac Erter was born into the family of a po ...

, who published some of his highly regarded papers on elegant composition and wit in the magazine. Publication of ''Bikkure ha-Ittim'' ceased in 1831. Two attempts to revive the journal, one by Max Emanuel Stern in 1844 and another by Isaac Samuel Reggio and Isidor Bush, were unsuccessful.

Notable contributors

Among the periodical's contributors were: * Abraham Aberle *

Isaac Benjacob Isaac ben Jacob Benjacob (January 10, 1801, Ramygala – July 2, 1863, Vilnius) was a Lithuanian Jewish Maskil, best known as a bibliographer, author, and publisher. His 17-volume Hebrew Bible included Rashi, Mendelssohn, as well as his own '' ...

* Jacob Samuel Bick * Berish Blumenfeld * David Caro *

Aaron Chorin Aaron Chorin ( he, אהרן חארין; August 3, 1766August 24, 1844) was a Magyars, Hungarian rabbi and pioneer of early Reform Judaism, religious reform. He favored the use of the organ (music), organ and of prayers in the vernacular, and was ...

* Baruch Czatzkes * Lelio Della Torre *

* Josef Flesch * Judah Jeitteles *

Max Letteris Meïr Halevi (Max) Letteris (; 13 September 1800 – 19 May 1871) was an Austrian poet, editor, and translator of the Galician Haskala. He translated into Hebrew works by Virgil, Lucian, Jean Racine, Lord Byron, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Fri ...

* Solomon Judah Löb Rapoport * Solomon Pergamenter *

Joachim Pollak Joachim (Hayyim Joseph) Pollak (1798 – 16 December 1879) was an Austrian rabbi, born in Hungary, who officiated at Trebitsch, Moravia from 1828 until his death. He wrote a commentary, entitled ''Meḳor Ḥayyim'' (Presburg, 1849; 3d ed. Warsaw, ...

* David Samoscz * * * Yom-Tob Spitz * Marcus Strelisker * *

* Samuele Vita Zelman

References

{{Authority control Defunct newspapers published in Austria Haskalah Hebrew-language newspapers Publications established in 1820 Publications disestablished in 1831